Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Volleyball Falls To Louisiana Tech In Four
10/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2005
Ruston, La. - Playing their second conference road game in three days, the Bulldogs stayed even with the Louisiana Tech defense, but were not able to put plays away in a four-game loss to Louisiana Tech, 19-30, 24-30, 31-29, 27-30. Fresno State was held to ten kills in the first game, and was unable to gain control in either the first or the second games. Alison Pitton, who entered the match in game two, led the Bulldogs with 19 kills.
Louisiana Tech was in control through both of the first two games of the match. Fresno State was never able to regain momentum in the first match after taking the first point, and Louisiana Tech made the most of their chances, hitting .444 over the first game. The second game was much closer statistically, but the Lady Techsters still took a 30-24 win.
The third game was far more competitive, and Fresno State was able to pull out a close 31-29 win. In the end, though, Louisiana Tech's strengths made the difference, as well as Fresno State errors. As a whole, the Lady Techsters won the battle at the net, making 18 blocks to Fresno State's 7, and played evenly on offense and defense, led by Anielle Da Silva, who recorded a double-double with 17 digs and 10 kills.
Fresno State will look to rebound at home next Wednesday against Utah State. The Bulldogs get a quick respite in the North Gym, playing at 7 p.m. before traveling to Honolulu to face WAC powerhouse Hawai'i on Friday night. That match will be Fresno State's fourth against a ranked opponent this season. Fresno State previously played three ranked opponents at the Santa Clara Invitational.
Game 1 Recap - Fresno State opened the first game by taking a quick 1-0 lead, but a Stacey Clark kill and an error from Robyn Keune sent the lead back to the Lady Techsters. After taking the lead, Louisiana Tech was able to open an early 6-2 advantage after a kill from Maria Romanowski. Fresno State was able to break serve, but Louisiana Tech continued to press their lead, opening up an 11-5 advantage. Behind service from Robyn Keune, the Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to 11-7, and continued with an Ilima Sam Fong kill to bring it back to 12-9. Trading service, the teams moved through the middle of the match until Louisiana Tech was again able to increase their lead at 19-14. Louisiana Tech was able to keep the momentum, and Fresno called their first time out after a kill from Shannon Phillips made the score 23-16. Fresno State was never able to cut further into the Techsters' advantage than three however, and fell in game one 30-19.
Game 2 Recap - Fresno State took an early lead again in game two, winning the first two points, but Louisiana Tech made a run of their own to take the lead 7-3 behind kills from Shannon Phillips, an ace from Stacey Clark and a bevy of blocks. Louisiana Tech regained the serve though, and continued to extend their edge, taking a 9-3 lead before a kill from Allison Pitton. Fresno State began to cut into the lead though, using a Wiggins kill to bring the score to 10-6. The Lady Techsters began to pull away from the Bulldogs after that point, taking a 13-6 lead before a Fresno State sideout, and a service error gave the ball right back to Louisiana Tech, who opened up a 16-8 lead before a Pitton kill ended the run. Fresno State brought the score back to 18-12, and lost an extremely long rally to give up the serve at that point. Even though the Bulldogs were able to cut the lead back to five at times in the remainder of the game, Louisiana Tech was able to hold on to the edge and took game two 30-24.
Game 3 Recap - Fresno State again won the first point, but was able to hold the momentum for a longer period of time in the third game, keeping even with the Lady Techsters in the early going before going up 6-4, leading to a Louisiana Tech timeout. The two teams continued to stay very close, but Fresno State was able to keep a two-point edge through the early going, taking a 10-8 lead after an Ilima Sam Fong kill. The Bulldogs again extended their lead, moving ahead 13-10 after a Pitton kill. Louisiana Tech was able to come back however, and grabbed the lead after a Da Silva kill bringing the score to 15-14. The teams continued their competitive play, as Fresno State evened the match at 19-19 after an Ilima Sam Fong kill, and finally took a 23-21 lead after a Briana Rempel kill. Miscues from Fresno State allowed Louisiana Tech to regain a two-point lead, at 25-23. A service ace from Robyn Keune helped the Bulldogs to a 25-25 tie, and the teams traded service, making the score 26-26. Anielle Da Silva made a kill for Louisiana Tech to give them the lead, but the teams continued to trade points until a 28-28 deadlock. A kill from Alison Pitton helped the Bulldogs to a 29-28 advantage with service. The two teams traded points, and a block from Kasie Spencer and Briana Rempel gave Fresno State a 31-29 win.
Game 4 Recap - Starting similarly to the earlier games in the match, Fresno State scored first, but Louisiana Tech was able to grab the advantage early in the match, staking a 7-3 lead before a Bulldog timeout. Fresno State cut the lead to 8-5, but Louisiana Tech continued to stretch their advantage, and took an 11-6 lead. A Briana Rempel kill after a side out again brought the Bulldogs within three at 11-8, and the teams began to exchange points, keeping the Louisiana Tech lead at three until a Da Silva and Phillips block made the score 18-14. Two Shannon Phillips kills led the Lady Techsters to a 21-15 lead though. Fresno State came out of a timeout and scored three straight points, cutting the lead to 21-18, but again a Shannon Phillips kill ended the rally. From that point, Louisiana Tech was able to hold on to their advantage and took the last game 30-27.
